Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alaska, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alaska and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alaska
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Alaska:
- 40.783698, -76.437453
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Alaska
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Northumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Northumberland County
- Since Alaska is near Schuylkill County and also Columbia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Alaska ...
We found ten communities that share the name Alaska.
There is one other community in Pennsylvania which is also named Alaska.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Michigan
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Prince Edward Island
- This Alaska lies 733 miles [1,179.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Alaska that is located in Northumberland County.
- West Virginia
- Fayette County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Alaska [Fayette County].
- Mineral County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Alaska [Mineral County].
- Wisconsin
- Kewaunee County
- This Alaska is located in Kewaunee County and lies 618 miles [994.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Alaska that is located in Northumberland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kewaunee County community of Alaska.
- Waukesha County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Alaska [Waukesha County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alaska ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Atlas
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Bear Gap
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Gap
- Bear Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Beaverdale
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdale
- Beaverdale is located in Northumberland County
- Coal Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Diamondtown
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamondtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamondtown
- Diamondtown is located in Northumberland County
- Greenback
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Locust Gap
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Gap
- Locust Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Locust Summit
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Summit
- Locust Summit is located in Northumberland County
- Locustdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locustdale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locustdale
- Locustdale is located in Columbia County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Locustdale <5>
- Natalie
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natalie
- Natalie is located in Northumberland County
- Strong
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
How Far From Alaska to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Alaska to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alaska and extending to:
- Sunbury, which is the Seat of Northumberland County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alaska to Sunbury, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 41 miles [66 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 134 miles [215.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,793 miles [9,322.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,504 miles [10,467.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,380 miles [7,048.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alaska. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Northumberland County: www.northumberlandco.org/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alaska) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alaska. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7837, Longitude: -76.4375 In this case, the coordinates for Alaska have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Alaska could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Alaska, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <7> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Alaska to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.392 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.168 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.70 degrees. |